THE COOKERY OF THE SALMON 201 



swallowed small beer, or been inhaling bird's-eye or 

 niggerhead. 



But there is no doubt that Scott, the most 

 trustworthy of social antiquaries, did perpetuate that 

 tradition of the Tweed kettle. Next to the Abbots- 

 ford Hunt, which one of the border farmers, wishing 

 he might sleep on to the next anniversary, declared 

 was the only thing in life worth living for, came what 

 Lockhart describes as a solemn bout of salmon-fishing 

 for the neighbouring gentry and their families. After 

 the day's sport, ' the whole party assembled to regale 

 on the newly caught prey, boiled, grilled, and roasted 

 in every variety of preparation beneath a grand 

 old ash.' Something of the sort was anticipated in 

 the picturesque scene of the ' burning the water ' 

 in 'Guy Mannering' when Dandie was doing the 

 honours of Charlie's Hope to Captain Brown. ' The 

 sportsmen returned laden with fish, upwards of one 

 hundred salmon having been killed. The best were 

 selected for the use of the principal farmers, the 

 others divided among their shepherds, cottagers, 

 dependants, and others of inferior rank. These fish, 

 dried in the turf smoke of their cabins or shielings, 

 formed a savoury addition to the mess of potatoes 

 mixed with onions which were a principal part of 

 their winter food.' 



